But for all the unrelenting efforts of the Gillard government to make Abbott account for his vague policy agenda, the most damaging political blow has been inflicted from his own side.

There have long been big questions about the cost and viability of Abbott’s most cherished policy idea – his plan for a sweeping system of taxpayer-funded, paid parental leave (PPL).

Labor has been hammering away at these doubts ever since Abbott used his leadership authority to override internal doubts and force the scheme on to the Coalition’s policy agenda.

It has been an open secret for some time that many of Abbott’s Coalition colleagues were uncomfortable about the likely cost and the planned funding of the policy. These concerns have intensified as the federal budget ­outlook has deteriorated.

Now those internal rumblings have surfaced. A refreshingly frank and brave critique of the Abbott policy by Liberal backbencher
Alex Hawke
has Abbott scrambling to contain the damage. As a result of Hawke’s criticism and the support it has received, Abbott faces much more intense scrutiny of not just this questionable policy but his broader spending and revenue-raising plans.

The business community, which has fretted about the likely impact of the Abbott scheme but has been characteristically weak in taking the issue up publicly, will surely now feel more emboldened to join the battle.

Abbott has insisted the policy is non-negotiable as it is a landmark social reform. He will not back away from it.

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But he will now have to come clean on how it will be paid for – something he was clearly hoping he could avoid until after the September 14 election.

Hawke may not have done his own career prospects much good. But he will have done the nation a favour if the result of his actions is to bring sharper focus to the discussion and scrutiny of the opposition’s policy agenda.

The timing of this is fortunate.

With the government faced with a horror budget and the growing risk that the release of the budget next week will further undermine its credibility and offer a host of new political targets to the opposition, the Abbott free ride was likely to become even easier.

But because of Hawke’s actions, a lot of the post-budget pressure will shift to Abbott. With the near certainty that Abbott will be prime minister after ­September, he will have to produce a budget response which explains how he will manage the fiscal policy crisis that the budget will confirm – and how he will deliver such a costly policy as his PPL scheme. His opportunistic and cynically ­calculated political strategy of using Labor’s unpopularity to coast into office with a free pass on policy has run into trouble. But that this sudden problem has been created by one of his own team also confirms just how ineffectual has been
Julia Gillard
’s plan to turn up the heat on Abbott by setting the date for the election so early.

Gillard’s hyperactive efforts to ­pressure Abbott have been rendered ineffectual by her own lack of ­credibility. An almost anonymous ­Liberal MP has made a bigger impact.